#2091: Tuesday, June 19

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Post 2091
- 7 years and 170 days since I started this blog -

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      203.7 lbs.

Previous Weight (6/18/18):           203.7 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 0.0 lbs.

  Diet Comment

No change is better than I deserve - I ate a lot of chocolate at the end of the day. Even though it was sugar-free, that was excessive, maybe obsessive. But it was good. And, if it didn't help me, at least it didn't hurt me.  

Food Log

Breakfast
7:15pm: 

Kale and spinach omelette with onions, peppers and parmesan cheese; with sriracha and bacon.

Lunch
Skipped.

Dinner
12:20am: Dubliner cheese, walnuts and sriracha chicken breast.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 64+ oz.;

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#2090: Monday, June 18: Can you be happy when things go wrong?

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Post 2090
- 7 years and 169 days since I started this blog -

Comment

I have had a series of negative things - accidents, mistakes, all, one way or another, my fault. Don't worry, I have already forgiven myself and gotten over them.

So, still happy.

You need to know that I've been keeping a budget since my mid-twenties. Of course, back then, it was a pencil-and-paper affair, but it made sense to me to do it back then - I was living hand-to-mouth, and was stressing over it.

There's also the fact that I have always been 'entertained' by numbers - I'm a mathematics-oriented guy, since failing 10th-grade algebra (story for another time). So working with/playing with numbers has never been a chore for me. My degree is in Mathematics and I graduated summa cum laude.

Still later, I was very taken by the first home finance program, Dollar$ and Sen$e, when it came out. I was thrilled to have my budgeting automated, and by the ability to break a year apart into months. When that program was discontinued, I switched to the competing, adequate-but-not-as-good Quicken (for DOS), and have used it for more than thirty years now.

Bottom line (haha!), I budget.

In the last three weeks, there have been a series of unforeseen budget-busting expenses. Because I've been committed to living within my means (e.g., no debt) for the last decade (my response to the personal financial collapse I experienced in 2007 that culminated in divorce, joblessness and homelessness, and precipitated my move to Syracuse in June, 2008), I sold some stock (which is to say, I dipped into my retirement savings), and will have to sell some more a little later in the year. So, I have handled it.

I'll tell about these financially bad events, and how I responded (well, I've already told you how I responded financially, but there's the psychological element that had to be dealt with). Here's the story:

Three weeks ago, I got the formal invitation to my niece's wedding. It is going to be a big, fancy affair. I got a call from my brother, wanting to know what I thought about it, and had to consider some factors I hadn't: That I would be unable to stay at my sister's (she had a full house with out-of-town people). It became obvious to me that if I didn't help out, my brother and sister-in-law would be unable to attend the wedding. They could not afford a room in the hotel (two-hundred-plus bucks!).

So, I encountered my first unplanned-for expense: An additional trip to Brooklyn, and the cost of an AirBnB apartment. Only a little of that expense had been anticipated in my budget when I first found out about the wedding, before I knew any details. This is some hundreds of dollars I didn't foresee. No blame, but it turned out to be just the beginning.

Next, I had planned on spending some money getting out of Syracuse for the Winter, which meant covering travel costs in next year's budget (I had done this last year, when I bought my ticket and paid for my lodging in Chiang Mai).

Then, I found an incredibly cheap flight to Lisbon, still cheap even after adding the extra airfare from Syracuse, and bought it. Finding good, cheap lodging, though, was difficult - given the longer stay and higher costs, it was three times as expensive as Chiang Mai had been (although the airfare was cheaper). I realized also that my day-to-day living in Portugal would be more expensive as well, but that was next year's problem.

I made changes to my budget, but I was quickly approaching my limit. And I had decided to go back to Chiang Mai as well, and proceeded to book that. Even extending my time to a month, I found a good airfare and AirBnB room that, with some budget manipulation, didn't bust my budget - but definitely left me no slack.

I had booked my Chiang Mai flight around plans to go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I thought Mardi Gras was the second Tuesday in March, but after booking my flight and getting my AirBnB (and after a few days had passed, including the long weekend I wrote about last Tuesday), I found out I was wrong about that date, wrong about what I "knew". It turns out the day of Mardi Gras is set by something called the Ecclesiastical moon, some kind of Church nonsense, and the date can vary within six weeks. This year, Mardi Gras is the first Tuesday in March. I'd been off by three weeks! I would be in Chiang Mai when Mardi Gras happened. I'd have to miss it, or re-book.

I made the fiscally irresponsible but culturally necessary decision to re-book. And broke my budget, right there, because that exercise cost me over $400. But I remained true to my priorities, and saw that If I took some cash out of my margin account, I could cover that overage. I didn't like it, but the decision felt right, and was definitely the one that favored happiness.

That was my second unanticipated, un-budgeted expense.

The next hit came by a sad accident. After a night of revelry, including a concert and a birthday celebration, I had a comical and costly accident. Slightly drunk at the end of the evening, I was taking a post-midnight walk on the Creek Walk in downtown Syracuse when my phone rang. Struggling to get it out of my 'murse' in the near dark, it went flying overhead, bounced off a couple of rocks, and ended up in the creek (to all intents and purposes, an open sewer).

I bought a new iPhone the next day, for an out-of-pocket cost $300, and a further additional $30/month, which, after my switch to T-mobile is still less than I was paying for Verizon, but that was one of the things that changed my budget... So it still had an effect.

I had a dentist appointment Thursday, which was free. But I was told I had a broken crown. Saturday morning, I got the reply from my insurance company for my estimated out-of-pocket cost for that: $800.

Saturday night, I met up with band-mates Tami and Brian after a show they did. I was getting impatient waiting for them in the parking lot, and took out my phone to call and make sure they were okay, when Brian tapped me on the shoulder and startled me. I dropped the phone, and shattered my three-day-old screen. Another $180 to repair.

Let's recap: unforeseen expenses for niece Katie's wedding, expensive travel booking error, new phone, dental cost, screen repair. About two grand in unforeseen, unplanned, unbudgeted expenses. Of which, only the dental work was, strictly speaking, necessary.

Yet, at no point did I allow money issues to change my mood. I let go of the immediate anger-anxiety response as each thing happened, and figured out, after coping, how to adjust.

That's what my habitual gratefulness has brought to my life - an unshakable sense of calm and acceptance, and the ability to not let external things determine one's happiness.

Is it weird to be grateful for gratitude?

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      203.7 lbs.

Previous Weight (6/15/18):           205.0 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 1.3 lbs.

  Diet Comment

That is a victory! I wanted to come in at 204, and I beat that goal. I admit, I did it without exercising as much discipline as I thought I'd have to, in fact, I had to off-plan meals, and did not refrain from whiskey consumption.  

Food Log

Breakfast
3:15pm: Purple-green protein smoothie with coconut-almond milk, kefir, large organic egg, chia gel, kale, spinach, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, celery, whey powder (24g protein), coconut oil, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, moringa leaf powder, fo ti, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla extract, Dr. Gundry's Vital Reds and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch
7:00pm: A Quest bar.

Dinner
12:0am: Chef's salad (Spring Mix greens, pepperoni, Dubliner cheese, shaved parmesan, a hard-boiled egg, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette). An entire box of sugar-free dark chocolate (when freebies collide with cannabis).

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 22 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 64+ oz.;

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#2089: Friday, June 15

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Post 2089
- 7 years and 166 days since I started this blog -

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      205.0 lbs.

Previous Weight (6/14/18):           205.6 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 0.6 lbs.

  Diet Comment

Well, the week's fourth and last weigh-in went well - that's my low weight of the week. This weekend, I'm going to be very conservative - try and stay away from booze and simple carbs. That should last until Sunday, when the Blues and BBQ at Rooters undoes my good work. Hopefully, though, not too much. My goal is to be at 204 pounds or less at Monday's weigh-in.  

Food Log

Breakfast
6:15pm: 

Salmon and eggs with onions, fo ti (that's the dark stuff on top) and turmeric.

Lunch
6:40pm: A Quest bar.

Dinner
1:20am: Pepperoni, Dubliner cheese, hard-boiled eggs, 72% dark chocolate and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 64+ oz.;

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#2088: Thursday, June 14

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Post 2088
- 7 years and 165 days since I started this blog -

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      205.6 lbs.

Previous Weight (6/13/18):           205.6 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 0.0 lbs.

  Diet Comment

Nothing! That is disappointing, which is what happens when you have expectations. Also, when you don't drink enough water.  

Food Log

Breakfast
6:15pm: Purple-green protein smoothie with coconut-almond milk, kefir, large organic egg, chia gel, kale, spinach, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, whey powder (24g protein), coconut oil, hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, moringa leaf powder, fo ti, cinnamon, turmeric, vanilla extract, Dr. Gundry's Vital Reds and stevia-inulin blend.

Lunch
Skipped.

Dinner
1:10am: Cottage cheese and walnuts, prosciutto and Dubliner cheese, and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 22 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 48+ oz.; and a shot of Jameson's Irish whiskey 

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#2087: Wednesday, June 13

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Post 2087
- 7 years and 164 days since I started this blog -

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      205.6 lbs.

Previous Weight (6/12/18):           206.7 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 1.1 lbs.

  Diet Comment

Well, that's a start! More to come!  

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
8:00pm:

Brussel sprouts casserole, with onions, peppers, prosciutto, eggs and salad blend cheeses.

Dinner
1:20am: 

Cabbage, chard, kale, spinach, roasted turkey breast, shaved Parmesan cheese, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 42+ oz.; and a shot of Jameson's Irish whiskey 

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#2086, Tuesday, June 12: Long weekend, my version

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Post 2086
- 7 years and 163 days since I started this blog -

Comment

It has been five days since I last wrote here. I don't write up the blog when I go on trips, because I don't weigh myself during weekends or when I'm away from home. I just like to give myself a break from the routine things on weekends. When I'm traveling, it is a distraction, and detracts from fully participating in the experience I've traveled for. I also regard travel time as 'special' when it comes to food. When someone prepares a meal for me, I automatically eat what they've prepared, with gratitude. Love comes before anything else, and cooking is - or can be (should be?) - about love.

These last few days were all about travel and friendship. But a lot of friendly conversation happens over food. Usually, when presented with a menu (options), I try for the closest-to-on-plan but desirable item. But, especially when I'm traveling, should an off-plan item be the most desirable thing (a specialty, a novelty, a rarity, a favorite), I go for it with no regrets or self-recrimination.

An unintended consequence of my days away this trip was a lot of off-plan eating, especially yesterday. This is the down-side of my blog's weekend/travel policy (don't). I wrestle with it every time I go away. The reason I blog is to help me maintain the weight loss . The most successful dieters (any plan) keep a food journal. It has been found that you self-modify your eating, easily, when you keep track of what you eat. Paying attention to what you eat makes it easy to modify your eating behavior. You can simply use the scale for a success metric.

It is the fact that I'm not blogging what I eat on the weekends or on trips that, in general, makes them so prone to be times of great weight gain. I'm not paying attention to what I eat or connecting it with health or weight control, which I do (naturally, effortlessly) when I'm blogging.

In the beginning, when I was in the weight-loss part of blogging, it was a seven-day-a-week thing. When I added some commentary, every day (or nearly), this became something of a chore. That's when I cut back to blogging only on weekdays (from the beginning, I never blogged when traveling).

I may go back to blogging except when traveling, as the time spent away from home has been increasing since I retired, and looks like it will keep doing that (I'll be on the road for the first nine weeks of 2019 - last year it was the first seven out of eight weeks).

Which means, from mid-December, 2018 to mid-March, 2019, there will be very few blog entries (only when I come home from one trip and transition to the next).

When last I wrote here, I had just scheduled a trip to Lisbon, and was thinking about revisiting Chiang Mai. Last Friday, I got down to scheduling that Chiang Mai trip.

Then I drove to Norwalk, Connecticut.

My goal there was, first, to hang with my New Orleans running buddy Kokomo Slim, in 'exile' while working on a contract; second, to meet up with my Chiang Mai-met musician friend Scott; and lastly, to introduce the two.

Mission accomplished, along with a big Thai meal and an even bigger barbecue.

I drove home Sunday, stopped home to pick up a bass, and drove to the Rooters Sunday Blues Jam and BBQ. Where I ate a lot of 'cue, along with rolls, macaroni and cheese and sweet (ugh) cole slaw (the only vegetable available).

Monday, I was picked up at Noon (straight out of bed) by the three other male members of I am Fool for a trip out to see Dead & Co. at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (almost three hours away). FWIW, the female member of the band was in Colorado - she would have been welcome, of course.

This is where everything completely collapsed, dietarily. The trip is one big pot party, and people's ideas about food and snacks don't include anything remotely healthy. No fruits or vegetables in evidence. Any protein is usually buried in carbs. Same with fat, and good fats are also absent.

Before I left, I ate a couple of Quest bars (all I had left). Once I got picked up, and at the show, I ate bags of cinnamon-sugar-covered almonds, grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches, popcorn and potato chips, different kinds of cookies, a corn dog. And stuff I've forgotten I ate. At home at three-fifteen in the morning I ate hard-boiled eggs and prosciutto and cheese.

I had a great time these last for days. I gained an average of about a pound-and-a-half a day, but if I had to guess, I put on half the new pounds yesterday. It's hard to say when you aren't keeping track.

I'm grateful for having a wonderful time. I shrugged off my typical restraints, and now I'm back home and I need to be very rigid about staying on plan. But that's tomorrow. I am going to see Samantha Fish at Funk'n Waffles tonight, and I'll be eating there, even though I shouldn't. But, you know, shouldn't is a bad word. What I should do is enjoy myself.

I am all about gratitude, and I couldn't be more grateful for my friends and the good times. Gotta keep having them and being grateful for them. I am that.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      206.7 lbs.

Previous Weight (6/7/18):            200.6 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       + 6.1 lbs.

  Diet Comment

Although my weight gain since I last weighed in is over a pound-and-a-half per day, I'd be willing to bet yesterday's stoned trip to see Dead & Co. is responsible for more than half of that gain. Coming off in the next week, I vow.  

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
8:00pm, at Funk'n'Waffles:

Bootsy Brunch waffle (bacon-stuffed buttermilk waffle, two eggs and cheddar cheese).

Dinner
12:30am: Dubliner cheese, prosciutto, and walnuts.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 2;   Coffee: 24 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 42+ oz.; and a shot of Jameson's Irish whiskey 

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#2085: Thursday, June 7

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Post 2085
- 7 years and 158 days since I started this blog -

Comment

No post tomorrow - it's a travel day. I'm going to Connecticut, to see my old friend Kokomo Slim, who is my New Orleans host (when he's there). He is on a contract and is homesick.

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      200.6 lbs.

Previous Weight (6/6/18):            200.7 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       - 0.1 lbs.

  Diet Comment

Well, even-Steven. I don't know. I have nothing to say, but that's okay.  

Food Log

Breakfast
3:15pm: 

Cabbage, chard, kale, spinach, roasted turkey breast, shaved Parmesan cheese, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette. And a Quest bar.

Lunch
8:30pm: Dubliner cheese, hard-boiled eggs, prosciutto.

Dinner
1:30am: Cottage cheese, walnuts and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 92+ oz.; and a healthy pour of Jameson's Irish whiskey 

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#2084: Wednesday, June 6

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Post 2084
- 7 years and 157 days since I started this blog -

Food and Diet 

Today's Weight:                      200.7 lbs.

Previous Weight (6/5/18):            199.8 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                       + 0.9 lbs.

  Diet Comment

So this week has been so topsy-turvy, I've lost weight when I expected to gain, and today I gained weight when I expected to lose it. Why did I gain weight? I have no idea.  

Food Log

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
7:30pm: Salmon burger with scrambled eggs (2) and a salad (Spring Mix, cabbage, walnuts, balsamic vinaigrette).

Dinner
12:30am: Broccoli, spinach and kale with cottage cheese and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake

   Espressos: 1;   Coffee: 0 oz.;  Tea: 0 oz.;  Water: 72+ oz.; and a healthy pour of Jameson's Irish whiskey 

Please leave a comment when you visit my blog. Thank you!